For Commandant Verhoeven life is beautiful: he is happily married, expecting his first child with the lovely Irène.

HE’S ALWAYS ONE CHAPTER AHEAD

But his blissful existence is punctured by a murder of unprecedented savagery. Worse still, the press seem to have it in for him – his every move is headline news. When he discovers that the killer has killed before – that each murder is a homage to a classic crime novel – the fourth estate are quick to coin a nickname… The Novelist…

With both men in the public eye, the case develops into a personal duel, each hell-bent on outsmarting the other. There can only be one winner – whoever has the least to lose…

HE HATES HAPPY ENDINGS

Irene shows us Camille Verhoeven’s team in their darkest hour. Faced with a killer always one chapter ahead, the suave Louis, the miserly Armand and the robust Le Guen can only watch as the horror unfolds.

PIERRE LEMAITRE was born in Paris in 1956. He worked for many years as a teacher of literature before becoming a novelist.

He was awarded the 2013 Crime Writers Association International Dagger, with Fred Vargas, for Alex.

In 2013 his novel Au-revoir la haut won the Prix Goncourt, France’s leading literary award.